Kozhikode: Amidst reports of the increasing number of rabies cases in the state and the widespread attack on people by stray dogs, there is another cause of worry for the public.

Kerala may face an acute shortage of anti-rabies vaccines soon. Within five months, the State has already used 62 per cent of the overall stock meant for the whole year.

To tide over any such shortage, the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL) has asked the vaccine distribution company to speed up the supply of the stock of 49,940 vials of anti-rabies vaccines, the order for which was given by the government on August 17.

According to the estimate by the government, more than double the expected vaccine quota is used daily these days.

The order for supplying equine anti-rabies vaccines was earlier given to the Hyderabad-based VINS Bioproducts Limited by the government.

26 people bitten by stray dogs on Onam eve

Even with Kerala's stray dog menace making headlines in major newspapers across the state for the past many days, it seems little has been done to curb the problem.

On Wednesday, twenty-six people were bitten by stray dogs across the state. Of them, several are children.

Eight people, including a child, were bitten by stray dogs at Kattakkada in the state capital.

The injured sought treatment at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital.

Six, including a Plus One student, suffered dog bites at Idukki's Rajakkad and Upputhara panchayats.

In Kottayam, stray dogs barged into the compounds of five houses at night in Kottayam's Ettumanoor and bit six people.

In Ernakulam, SI Ratheesh Babu of Alangad police station in Paravur was bitten by his pet dog while on duty.

Another person doing his rounds delivering newspapers in Chittoor was also bitten by a dog.

In Thrissur, an auto driver and an Uttar Pradesh native were attacked by stray dogs. Meanwhile, in Malappuram, two persons suffered dog bites.

The incidents, which come on the eve of Onam, have once again pulled the veil on the mismanagement plaguing local self-government bodies.

Local self-government bodies are entrusted with the culling of stray dogs in their respective areas.

Stray dog menace claims 7 lives in 4 months

The stray dog menace has worsened in Kerala leading to seven deaths in four months from May 2022.

The deceased - all between the ages of 12 and 65 - are 12-year-old Abhirami, Mohammad Razan (12) from Malappuram's Chelembra, Omana (65) from Murikkasseri in Idukki, Sreelakshmi (19) from Palakkad, Kamalakshi (59) from Palakkad's Kumaranalloor and Perambra native Chandrika (53). They died of rabies infection.

Thrissur native Thaivalappil Sheela (52) died of a heart attack on the fourth day after a dog bite.

Of the seven deceased, all except Omana had taken rabies vaccinations.

Omana informed the hospital about the dog bite weeks after the incident as she developed an inflammation on her leg.

Though she was given a vaccine then and sent home, she died later on.